Tag Archives: CD games

Like any PC Engine fan worth his or her salt, I’ve long had a fascination with that most mysterious of unreleased titles, Takeru’s PC Cocoron.

Until this past weekend, though, I was under the impression that the screenshots included in the magazine scan below were all that were released of this remake/sequel/whatever of a Famicom game with a similar name.

While reading videogameden.com’s review of the above-mentioned Famicom title, though, I noticed the following screenshot-filled magazine scan.

After a bit of Googling, I came across even more screenshots of this criminally-unreleased game at this site.

These scans and screens have been on the web for some time now, haven’t they? I don’t suppose this means copies of said game have been floating around the web for a while now, too?

I’m pretty sure I’ve told this story a number of times before, but I’m going to share it again just in case my memory is failing me (it certainly wouldn’t be the first time): Monster Lair was the game that prompted me to buy the TurboGrafx-16 CD attachment way back when. I’d never played–or even heard of–the arcade original, so that wasn’t what attracted me to this platformer-shooter hybrid. No, what attracted me to it was its bright, beautifully drawn graphics–especially its so-cute-they-could-make-you-puke enemies and bosses. There’s more to Monster Lair than fetching foes, though; there’s also a rockin’ Red Book soundtrack and a whole lotta challenging levels (14, to be exact). All that said, I wouldn’t buy this game expecting it to become your favorite PC Engine title, but I would expect it to be well worth whatever you pay for it (which, at this point, should be less than $20).

Remember how I said (in this post) that I was going to buy copies of J.B. Harold Murder Club and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiegoat some point? Well, I did–shortly after publishing that post, in fact–and both games arrived on my doorstep a few days ago.

My favorite part of this two-piece package: The embossed, leather(ish)-bound “Investigate Note” book that came with the copy of J.B. Harold Murder Club.

Here’s the front cover of said book:

And here’s the back:

As is usually the case with such things, I can’t understand a word of what’s written in this more-than-a-manual. That’s OK, though, because the game itself is completely understandable (thanks to its English language option).

Most platformers follow in Super Mario Bros’ hugely successful footsteps and scroll horizontally. Well, Fukio Mitsuji’s arcade classic–technically the first sequel to Bubble Bobble–turns that tried-and-true tradition on its head and scrolls vertically, much like those odd overworld sections of Kid Icarus that caused you to pull out your hair by the handful. (Or was that just me?) As much as I like that mythological Famicom Disk System title, though, it has nothing on Rainbow Islands, what with its titular arcs of light–which can be used as weapons and as platforms–shimmering, Wizard of Oz-esque soundtrack (i.e., the main theme sounds an awful lot like “Over the Rainbow“) and varied assortment of enemies and environments.

For what it’s worth, coming up with a list of my five favorite pieces of PC Engine CD-ROM2 cover art was a lot harder than I thought it would be. (Also, it was a lot harder than coming up with my five favorite pieces of HuCard cover art–which I wrote about in this post.)

After much sweating, swearing and handwringing, though, I settled on the following:

Crest of Wolf (Hudson/Westone, 1993)–I tend to like cuter, more colorful imagery when it comes to cover art, but I’m making an exception in the case of this side-scrolling beat ’em up (which was called Riot Zone in North America)–mainly because of the skeleton with the bloody sickle, interestingly enough.

Gate of Thunder (Hudson/Red, 1992)–To be honest, I’m not even sure what this image is supposed to represent. Is that the “Hunting Dog” speeding toward the viewer, or is it some sort of hostile mother ship? I don’t know why I’m asking, because I’ll continue to lust after this piece of strikingly colored cover art regardless of the response.

Puyo Puyo CD (Compile/NEC Avenue, 1994)–OK, I know this choice is going to lose a few of you, but stick with me. Clearly, this piece of cover art isn’t as technically impressive as those mentioned above. It’s brighter and cuter than both of them combined, though, and that counts for a lot in my book. I’m especially fond of the cherry-red logo, which pops, shockingly, from the comparably subtle background imagery.

Sylphia (Tonkin House, 1993)–If you’re looking for a bit (or a lot) of drama in a piece of box art, look no further than the one created for this mythologically focused shmup. There’s the titular fairy in the foreground and a dragon and some Corinthiancolumns in the background. Oh, and swirling around all of it: Magic! Really, could you ask for anything more?

Ys I&II (Hudson/Falcom, 1989)–I had a really hard time deciding between the Japanese and the North American cover art for this classic RPG. In the end, I chose the latter because of its beautiful dawn-breaks-after-defeating-Darm backdrop. That said, you certainly can’t go wrong with the classy Japanese cover.

Here’s something I didn’t know about Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair before my copy of the game arrived a few days ago: In lieu of a traditional instructional manual, it comes with a 10-inch-by-14-inch piece of paper that’s been folded into a square.

The front side of said piece of paper is a poster:

The back side, on the other hand, contains all of the instructional stuff: